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Stress at work may be one of the few guarantees in life, aside from death and taxes. A 2010 survey found that over 1 in 4 people (that’s 3.7 million Canadians), considered most days to be ‘quite a bit’ or ‘highly stressful’, with the majority attributing work issues as the leading cause. Teachers unfortunately are not exempt; data from the Ontario College of Teachers in 2015 indicated that nearly 2 in 5 early-career teachers are concerned about job security, and 1 in 5 did not find their workload to be manageable. Stressful working conditions are also the second most commonly cited reason for leaving the teaching profession, according to a 2005 survey (source: Professionally Speaking, June 2006).
With FeelingBetterNow® (FBN), we hope to provide teachers with the tools to cope with the stressors of a challenging workplace. FeelingBetterNow® is a confidential and anonymous mental health management program available on your PC or mobile device; it’s available at no charge for you and your family members. Developed by a team of psychiatrists, counselors and family doctors, FBN is designed to provide an individual-centred approach to achieving a solid footing when it comes to understanding and managing stress. That’s why we developed a toolbox focused on Stress Reduction.

Here’s how you can develop stress-busting strategies using FeelingBetterNow®:

Learn About Stress: When things get tough, our first response is often to head to Google and search for information about stress. While that’s helpful if you know what you’re looking for, most people are not mental health experts, and it can be challenging to separate the signal from the noise. Low-content “listicles” like “10 Best Ways to Beat Stress” usually provide obvious information and are primarily designed to garner website page hits and sell ads. On FeelingBetterNow® however, our Stress Reduction knowledge base has been developed by psychologists who have distilled the leading research literature around the causes of stress into bite-sized summaries that provide you with the key information you need to take action.

Develop a Systematic Approach: FBN provides you with free access to E-books developed by experts that use proven principles to tackle stress and develop coping mechanisms that you can integrate into your daily routine.

Mobile Apps: Type “stress reduction” into your app store’s search box and you’ll see hundreds of results. Downloading and evaluating even a handful of these apps can be time-consuming and yes, stress-inducing! On FeelingBettterNow®, we take the time and guesswork out of this process by providing you with a shortlist of free, high-quality apps (for iPhone and Android) that have been reviewed by members of our Clinical Advisory Board for inclusion within FBN as a curated resource available to help individuals. These include apps focused on progressive muscle relaxation, breathing exercises, guided meditation and more.

Everyone experiences stressful situations, and they can certainly be rooted in circumstances outside of work (family, legal, financial, etc.). Good time management, sleep and dietary habits can greatly limit the impact of stress on your physical and mental well-being. If left unaddressed however, stress can increase the risk of developing more serious conditions like anxiety, depression and substance abuse, as well as chronic health problems such as heart disease, ulcers and migraines. Take your first steps towards protecting yourself by going on FeelingBetterNow® today!